Countywide

A quarterly survey of Northern Virginia business leaders shows an increasing level of concern about the near-term future of the region’s economy.

Just under half the 120 business leaders surveyed — 49% — foresee the economy declining either “slowly” or “significantly” over the next six months, according to results released yesterday (Thursday) by the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce and Pinkston for the fourth quarter of 2025.


Countywide

Affording groceries, already a challenge for many households in the D.C. region, could become an even greater obstacle next month for thousands of Fairfax County residents with the suspension of federal food benefits.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, is expected to pause payments at the end of next week unless Congress and President Donald Trump resolve the budget standoff that has closed the federal government since Oct. 1.


News

An employee of the U.S. State Department has been accused of unlawfully storing more than 1,000 classified documents at his Vienna home.

Federal prosecutors arrested and charged Ashley J. Tellis earlier this month with one felony count of unlawfully retaining national defense information.


Countywide

Hundreds of Fairfax County residents are expected to hit the streets tomorrow (Saturday) as part of a nationwide protest movement opposing the Trump administration.

Though the main event will take place at noon near the National Mall in D.C., a dozen rallies are also planned across the county for this year’s second “No Kings Day of Action,” many of them organized by local chapters of the grassroots, liberal activist network Indivisible.


Countywide

By FATIMA HUSSEIN, JOEY CAPPELLETTI, JESSE BEDAYN and SAFIYAH RIDDLE Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — With every passing day of the government shutdown, hundreds of thousands of federal employees furloughed or working without pay face mounting financial strain. And now they are confronting new uncertainty with the Trump administration’s promised layoffs.


Countywide

Fairfax County leaders are voicing concern that proposed Trump administration’s cuts in homeland security grants could have a major local impact.

“It is a significant hit to our public safety agencies,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said at the board’s meeting on Tuesday (Oct. 14). “We will be very loud and outspoken about it.”


News

A Reston-based information technology company may lay off nearly 100 people by the end of this year.

Citing “uncertainty around the future of some contracts with federal agencies,” the contractor Peraton issued layoff notices to 92 employees earlier this month, the Washington Business Journal reported last week.


Countywide

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House budget office said Friday that mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.

Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said on the social media site X that the “RIFs have begun,” referring to reduction-in-force plans aimed at reducing the size of the federal government.


Around Town

Though it may be small solace for not knowing when their next paycheck may come, a night of music or theater could become at least a temporary escape for the thousands of workers affected by the ongoing federal government shutdown.

That’s what George Mason University hopes to provide by offering free tickets to select artistic performances for federal employees and contractors.


Countywide

More than one in four Fairfax County households meets the definition of “food-insecure,” and that figure is likely to rise in coming months as the full impacts of federal worker and funding cuts materialize.

“More challenging times are ahead,” Hilary Salmon, senior director of marketing and communications for Capital Area Food Bank, predicted when briefing board members of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) yesterday (Wednesday).


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